European Union - Results from the monitoring of veterinary medicinal product residues and other substances in food of animal

In the framework of article 31 of Regulation EC 178/2002, the European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority for assistance in preparing an annual technical report of the results of residue monitoring in food of animal origin in the Member States. The present report summarises the monitoring data from 2008 in the 27 Member States.

Tuesday 20 April 2010 (9 years 1 months 5 days ago)

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In the framework of article 31 of Regulation EC 178/2002, the European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority for assistance in preparing an annual technical report of the results of residue monitoring in food of animal origin in the Member States. The present report summarises the monitoring data from 2008 in the 27 Member States.

The distribution of non-compliant results by substance group, as a percent of the total non-compliant results in bovines, pigs, sheep and goats, horses, and poultry taken together, followed the pattern: antibacterials > hormones > other veterinary medicinal products > contaminants > prohibited substances > beta-agonists (46 %, 19 %, 18 %, 14 %, 2.3 %, and 0.1 %). The distribution of non-compliant results by species, as a percent of the total non-compliant results in targeted sampling followed the pattern pigs > bovines > poultry > sheep and goats > horses (39 %, 31 %, 17 %, 9 %, and 3 %) which corresponded to the pattern of the total samples taken for analysis in 2008 for the individual animal groups.

There were no non-compliant samples for stilbenes and derivatives (A1).

In the antithyroid agent group (A2), thiouracil was the only substance with non-compliant results reported in target samples of bovines, pigs, sheep and goats. The levels found were below 10 ppb and most likely a result of the natural presence of crucifera plants in feed.

For steroids (A3), there were 0.31 % non-compliant targeted samples in bovines (0.18 % excluding corticosteroids), 0.11 % in pigs, and 4.7 % in sheep and goats (2.17 % excluding corticosteroids). Dexamethasone was the most frequently found corticosteroid in bovines, both in terms of percentage of non-compliant results (70 % from the total of non-compliant results for corticosteroids, targeted samples) and number of Member States that reported such results (7 Member States).

Anticoccidials (B2b) were mainly found in targeted samples of poultry (n = 180) and eggs (n = 67). Heavy metals (B3c) were the most frequent contaminants reported followed by organochlorine compounds and PCBs (B3a). In aquaculture, most of the non-compliant results were, as in previous years, reported for malachite green (B3e). Malachite green findings were reported by nine Member States.